If you are your average rider that does their average share of bike repairs you’ve probably installed a cable or two.   Daily I see bikes come in with frayed derailleur or brake cables that are so frayed they are not fixable.   This means money from your pocket for a new cable.   Stop frayed cables with a little bit of duct tape.

Standard cable end:

Duct tape cable end:

Now this is a cheap cheap fix.  I’ve had to use it for a guy in a 12 hour even after he bent his bars & broke his lock on grips.  What you see here is the duct tape grips.

Frame protection.  We’ve seen duct tape used on a chain stay to protect chain slap but what about where your cables rub?  You don’t want your cable housing to rub through that pretty paint job to your frame.  Cut small pieces and apply them where ever you see cable rub (head tube, seat tube, top tube.)

 Finally - what I love using duct tape for the most.  Zip ties, shoe laces, hair ties… etc etc.  If you take a long piece of duct tape and fold it in half (length wise) while leaving the the ends open you can use this technique for various things.  Zip ties, shoe laces, hair ties… etc etc.

 Disclaimer:  I know my hands are dirty.  I do work for a living.